The Phoenix
by SevenSinsproject
Summary: I wanted help, so badly it hurt my heart. I never expected it to come in the form of a burning Phoenix, beautiful and deadly in the same breath. I only hope he'll help me, and maybe uncover secrets even I don't want to remember. Eventual GreenFlame.
1. Chapter 1

_Okay, since it was requested I do a separate GreenFlame story, I have done it. I am preparing a GlacierShipping story and am open to any ideas you have for both stories. I hope you guys enjoy and please like and review, because it means so much to me!_

The Phoenix

Lloyd glanced up at the glass double doors, fear boiling inside him like it had on _that_ day. The parking lot was completely vacant, leaving him alone with his thoughts. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that it was just an ordinary building. He knew better, though, that this was a rehabilitation center full of people just as deranged as he was. He could turn back and run to Brad's house. At least there he'd have people who'd act somewhat decent to him and food in his stomach. He wanted to overcome his addiction, though, so he pressed forward. His hand trembled as he opened the door, praying that he'd be left alone.

The white halls were empty, just like the parking lot; no sound except the distant squeaking of shoes on tile and his pounding heart. Feeling exposed and vulnerable, he began to wander through the halls, looking for the registration office. His footsteps echoed in the empty corridors, sending shivers down his spine. He looked up to see a sign, thankfully reading, "Registration Office." Stepping forward, he opened the door and stepped inside.

As soon as he stepped inside, he felt relaxed. A young woman looked up from her paperwork, smiling softly at him. "Hello, are you new?" He nodded, gripping the papers in his hand tightly. When had he taken them out of his bag? "Y-yeah, here's the paperwork my parent's had to fill out."

"Parents? Shouldn't they be here with you?" Lloyd flinched, his hands trembling as he passed her the paperwork.

"They…don't want to be seen with me."

"That's all right. Please, take a seat. One of the counselors will show you around as soon as one's available. We've been busy with home visitations, lately, so we're short of staff." She added the last part as she noticed his confused look.

"Thanks," he mumbled, nestling into one of the chairs. He drew his knees to his chest, pulling his hood up to hide his tears. They fell-not for the first time-because of his parents. He buried his face into his arms, which he had wrapped around his chest. He bit his lip to stifle the sobs that threatened to escape. Nestling deeper into the chair, he drew his knees so close to his chest that it hurt. Taking a deep breath, he prayed for sleep to entice his senses and let him forget for a little while.

Soon enough, his senses were dulled enough to allow him to sleep, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Pixal glanced over at the boy, smiling. He was cute, even though the effects of whatever he had been doing showed on his young face. Dark circles, although faint, appeared under his eyes. His ribs were cleverly hidden behind his hoodie, and she could hear his stifled sighs until sleep finally drowned them out. She glanced over his paperwork. His own handwriting was nothing like the neat, curly handwriting of his mother or the stiff handwriting of his father. It was messy, written in haste. His letters slanted to the left, which made her smile. A certain hot-tempered counselor had handwriting just like his, except even worse. Sometimes it was barely legible. 'Speak of the devil,' Pixal thought, 'and he shall appear.' Just as she looked up, the counselor burst through the door.

"Sorry I'm late, Pixal," Kai called, "I was up late trying to calm Jay down enough so he could sleep, and accidentally slept through my alarm."

"Its fine," Pixal whispered warmly, "but we do have a new arrival that happens to be out cold. I would appreciate it if you didn't wake him up."

"Sorry," Kai murmured, "what's he in for?"

"It isn't confirmed, but his papers say marijuana, meth, and a few other things. I don't think he's done anything worse than marijuana, if that. He doesn't look like he's been eating or sleeping well, and he cried himself to sleep. It is a wild guess, but I think something's going on at home. Maybe that's why he turned to drugs? We won't know until we question him, but for now let's just let him sleep."

"All right, but what about when he wakes up?"

"Dr. Julian will question him, and you'll show him around, if that's all right. We'll take baby steps, Kai, because right now I'm not sure Zane will be able to get an answer out of him."

"Poor messed up kid," Kai let out a sigh, "you're right about one thing, though. He seriously looks like he's seen better days. We'll be able to fix him, won't we?" His gaze turned to the sleeping boy, concern flittering in his eyes.

"We'll try, Kai. For now all we can pray for is that he isn't worse than we originally thought." Nodding, Kai walked towards the sleeping boy and easily pulled him into his arms. The boy shifted, arms moving to wrap around his neck. "Clingy little thing, aren't you?" he muttered with a smile. "I'll take him to his room, and I'll be there until he wakes up. Only Jay and Cole are back, right?"

"Yes, you will probably be eating with them and Zane. Make sure he eats, okay."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Scoffing, Kai shifted the boy so he was more comfortable in his arms before setting out towards the dorms.

He was glad, for once, that the halls were completely vacant of noisy patients. He stopped in front of the nearest available room, opening the door. It was a room for two, but he was almost sure that he'd be spending his nights here for a while, so he was grateful. He slipped into the room and shut the door with a causal kick. After pulling the boy's hood back, he laid him down on the bed closest to the window. Sitting on what little space there was next to him; Kai began to absently stroke the boy's hair. "Cute," he whispered, praying that the boy didn't hear him, "for a guy, that is." Ruffling the boy's hair, he got up and went to go find Zane. Hopefully, he'd get back before the kid woke. Luck hadn't been on his side today, though, so he highly doubted it.

Lloyd woke with a start, bolting upright. He looked around, trembling violently. He leant against the headboard, drawing his knees to his chest. It hurt, especially where it rubbed against the bruises. He was alone, he noted blearily, as he drew the blankets closer to his aching chest. It hurt right were his heart was; it was a deep, dull, ache that plagued him constantly. He turned as the door opened, hands instinctively clutching the blankets. "Have a nice nap, sleeping beauty?" The person who spoke said it teasingly, but his voice was kind and warm too.

"Where am I?" Lloyd had a vague idea, but after having horrible dreams he tried to forget everything that had happened today.

"The dorms of the rehabilitation center. I brought you here too, if you were wondering." Lloyd turned to get a better look at the stranger in his room, letting his knees fall away from his chest. A question was already on his lips, but he was hesitant to ask it though, because he'd already asked so many. "If you've got something to say, say it now. It's okay to ask questions." His voice was gentle as he spoke, coaxing him to ask whatever his heart desired.

"What time is it?" He whispered, avoiding the other man's gaze.

"About 7:30, and it's time for you to eat…" he hesitated, looking expectantly at Lloyd.

"L-Lloyd," he whimpered softly, "it's Lloyd."

"Coming then, Lloyd? You're gonna meet all my friends; people who'll help you get better. They're wonderful, just like you are!" He gave him a stunning smile and held out his hand. Lloyd felt himself warm at the compliment, though his mind denied such a thing. His heart beat faster as he climbed out of the bed and walked towards the man. "Sure, I'd like that." Smiling for the first time in a while, Lloyd let the man lead him out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Kai shut the door behind them, giving Lloyd yet another sunning smile. "Julian'll kill me if we don't go eat, so I'll give you the grand tour afterwards, 'kay." Lloyd nodded, looking down at their entwined fingers. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered, jerking his hand away and praying his blush wasn't too obvious. Kai looked mildly amused, smirking as he began walking to the cafeteria. "Coming?"

Lloyd trotted after him like a lovesick puppy. Kai swore he saw Lloyd reach to hold his hand again at least twice, but he wasn't counting. As they walked through the door, Lloyd shuffled closer. Rolling his eyes, Kai began walking to the only inhabitated table. "Hey guys, this is Lloyd. Lloyd, these are my brothers."

"B-Brothers?" the boy on the left looked surprised, an angry blush on his face.

"If we're your brothers, than it's our job to look out for you. Isn't that kid a little young for you? And since when are you gay?"

"What are you guys talking about? You know what, never mind. I'm going to go find Julian. Take care of Lloyd while I'm gone, okay."

"Yeah, we'll take _real_ good care of him, won't we Jay?"

"I swear to god if you lay a single hand on him I'll..."

"Relax, I'm only joking. Go pick up Pinky and bring Pixal and Nya, while you're out."

"You're a jerk, you know that." Kai let out a sigh, but he smiled anyway. "Yeah, I got it. Be good, Lloyd." Ruffling Lloyd's hair, Kai walked out of the room, muttering under his breath. Lloyd watched him go, part of him wishing he'd come back. These boys scared him, even though that wasn't uncommon. A lot of things scared him since the accident, and his parents hadn't helped with the constant fear. They only added to it. "Hey, Lloyd was it? You can take a seat, you know." He flinched, bowing his head.

"C-Cole, let him adjust. You p-probably scared him. Don't you see how wide his eyes are?" Lloyd turned, deciding he might as well take a seat. He sat across from the boy who had just spoken, Jay, if he remembered right. Cole rolled his eyes, muttering something that sounded like an apology.

Kai's brothers were as unlike him as possible. The one on the right, Cole, had black hair and lonely onyx eyes. He supposed his eyes looked like that too, because a close friend of his had said that he looked awfully lonely. When Cole noticed his staring, he smirked and said, "Like what you see? I know, I'm just fabulous, aren't I?" He said it warmly, and his eyes lit up, just a tiny bit, but it was noticeable. Jay had reddish-brown hair and dark blue eyes. He too smiled at him, and it made him relax. They were trying to make him feel comfortable, and he appreciated it greatly. "So, you're Lloyd, right?" Cole gave him a half-smile. "You must be something special, getting Kai to show you around. He _never _does that anymore."

"Really?" Lloyd's eyes widened slightly. "From the way he acts, I thought he did this sort of thing all the time."

"Kai? Nah, he only choses people he knows he can help. That doesn't happen everyday. He must've seen something special in you."

"What's he like?" Lloyd blushed, lowering his gaze. "I mean, I barely know anything about him. He didn't say his name or anything, just offered to show me around."

"Sounds like Kai all right," Jay laughed, "truthfully, he's a hot-tempered jerk who will probably flirt with you as much as Cole will."

"Yeah-hey, what?!" Cole looked at him in mock horror, a smile hidden in his eyes.

"He's also rumored to be a very good lover," Jay purred, laughing as Lloyd blushed.

"He acted really nice, though," Lloyd whispered, "I mean, he carried me to my room and was there when I woke up."

"I knew it!" Cole high-fived Jay, laughing. "He's so totally gay!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Lloyd turned at the sound of Kai's voice, flushing bright red. "Hey, Lloyd, you okay? You're all red." He tilted Lloyd's chin up, fingers gently touching his cheek. He gazed into Lloyd's eyes, and what he saw was amazing. They were a beautiful sea of blue, filled to the brim with sadness and loneliness. They held fear, too, and they locked with his like a sniper locking on their target.

Lloyd felt himself getting lost in Kai's warm brown eyes. He felt like he was drowning in the warmth they held. The spark was lost when Jay announced, "Get a room, you too."

"Kai, I didn't know you'd stoop so low. Taking advantage of a sleeping cutie like him, how monstrous." The two pulled apart quickly, blushing like mad. Kai turned to the two, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sorry," Lloyd whispered, bowing his head. He knew the anger was most likely directed at him, or maybe it wasn't. He could never be sure, but experience had taught him that if someone was angry, it was probably at him.

"Sorry? For what, Lloyd?" Kai was afraid of the answer, and knew Lloyd thought he was mad at him. "I'm not mad, Lloyd, really. Now, why don't you tell me what the three of you were doing while I was gone." Lloyd raised his head, staring wide eyed at Kai. Kai smiled, ruffling his hair. "You know what, I probably don't want to know. Oh yeah, I found them." Kai gestured to the three people behind him, and Lloyd felt himself shudder, arms instinctively wrapping around his chest.

"Kai, I'm sure you'd love to continue this conversation, but your young lover hasn't eaten yet."

"Not you too, Zane!" Kai sighed as the others laughed, but he turned to Lloyd with a smile. "He's right, isn't he? C'mon, let's get you something to eat."

"M'kay," Lloyd smiled, which caused Kai to look away.

_Damn, he can be cute, especially when he isn't trying. I'm going to have to get him to smile more. He's cute when he does._

Kai was dragged out of his thoughts when Lloyd hesitantly tugged his hand, frown on his face. "If you're cooking, can we have pizza? You seem like that kind of guy."

"Yeah, whatever you want." Kai replied, glad he wasn't blushing. This kid was too cute for his own good, and was going to be trouble for him. He didn't really mind, though. Lloyd was just too loveable to think badly of.

Lloyd tightened his grip on Kai's hand, loving the feeling. He might as well enjoy all his attention while he still could. Because once Kai learnt the truth, he'd hate him. Everyone else, too, because if his life had taught him anything, it was that once people learnt your deepest and darkest secrets, they were bound to hate you. That was a fact.

**Sorry it took so long, guys. I love your review and am open to suggestions. We will talk more about the accident in future chapters, as well as why Lloyd is there. His parents will play a big part in this too, later on. So sit tight and keep reading to see the truth behind Lloyd.**


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